Aatrox/Estrategia
Skill usage ;Top-lane The sustain from Blood Thirst keeps Aatrox's health topped off, allowing him to farm throughout the laning phase. Aatrox excels as a duelist, able to switch to Blood Price for heavy burst damage when trading with his lane opponent. After the exchange, Aatrox can toggle back to Blood Thirst to top off his health. When he’s ready to finish the job, Massacre adds significantly to an already potent burst combo. If the lane isn't going Aatrox's way, the knock-up effect from Dark Flight can be used to set up ganks for his jungler. Or, if Aatrox has bullied his enemy out of lane, he can push aggressively, safe in the knowledge that the disengage from Dark Flight and Blades of Torment’s slow will aid his escape when enemies come charging. Even when things go totally wrong, Blood Well offers a second chance to secure kills or make a quick exit. ;Team fights Aatrox's mobility gives him an innate ability to pressure enemy carries in team fights. Blood Thirst grants Aatrox plenty of sustain as he tangos with enemy initiators and tanks. When he sees an opportunity to reach an enemy carry, Dark Flight closes the gap and allows the punishment to begin. When Aatrox is in deep, the area of effect burst and extra range from Massacre, and slow on Blades of Torment prevent high-value targets from escaping. All the while the consistent healing from Blood Thirst and resurrection effect from Blood Well keep him alive long enough to cut through enemy squishies. If Aatrox's team is on the defensive, a well-aimed Blades of Torment can slow multiple enemies and open a window for retreating allies to slip away. Alternately, he can kite enemies with Dark Flight, and create an opportunity for the remainder of his team to turn and counter-initiate. If Aatrox is focused, Blood Thirst's sustain and the Blood Well keep him in the fight, giving his teammates an opportunity to cut through foes as he resurrects and delivers the killing blow. * can be used as both an initiation move and a disengage, but be aware that is still vulnerable to crowd controls, such as stuns and knockups. * and have some synergy with each other. ** Using first can allow you to get in a few hits and hopefully force an enemy to attempt an escape, after which you can follow up with for further punishment. Reversing the skill order will achieve the same effect but not with the same efficiency - has a longer cooldown and is a "harder" form of crowd control, thus encouraging more efficient use. * Try following the bonus damage from your immediately with after you engage for the quickest burst of damage. A full combo would be readying your , engage with , proc bonus damage, then activate to deliver a burst of damage. * Be aware that both and briefly interrupt Aatrox's movement. ** When trying to disengage, it's good to use first (since it has a longer range and a shorter cast animation) followed immediately by (since it has a shorter range and a longer cast animation). * With enough life steal, can leave on indefinitely, as the amount of damage he takes every third strike is negated by the life steal. Build usage * is a melee fighter who specializes in strong initiation and in-fight sustain. As a health-based caster, Aatrox relies on dealing heavy damage to stay alive. ;Damage * Aatrox benefits from life steal since it allows him to negate the health loss from his abilities. **Apart from life steal, provides attack speed, letting him regain insane amounts of health through . An early also gives some much-needed early sustain. ** is the item that gives the most attack damage and life steal in the game. It will make Aatrox extremely potent in 1v1 duels. ** is a very useful item to have when in the middle of a teamfight, allowing you to both deal damage to and heal from multiple enemies, giving Aatrox a very powerful late-game presence. * provides many valuable stats to , giving movement speed, attack speed, health, attack damage, and a slow. * Aatrox can use all 3 armor penetration items effectively ( , and ). The choice depends on whether or not you need armor penetration early, and also whether or not your enemies are focusing on armor. ** If you predict that your enemies are likely to get high amounts of armor, it is best to get during mid-game, helping you transition into your late-game phase better due to the high armor penetration and low cost. ** If you feel that you need armor penetration more early, or that you need cooldown reduction, getting a is a good idea. It can later be upgraded into a , which offers high armor penetration and some useful health, or which offers a passive that synergizes fantastically with Aatrox, as well as some critical strike chance. * gives off great offensive stats, and the tenacity is good if not getting . ;Health * 's passive will allow to deal mixed damage, forcing enemies to itemize on some magic resist as well as armor. * helps soak up damage in team fights and helps you survive long enough to take out high priority targets and the active slow helps catch running enemies. * in conjunction with results in fast healing due to the increased healing affects of Spirits Visage and the AoE life steal from Hydra. It also sync well with his Passive and Blood thirst as it also increases their healing. * is also a good choice since it provides 700 bonus health and a on-hit slow. ;Boots * are essential against teams with high crowd control and/or magic damage. As mentioned previously, can replace this item if there is a lack or magic damage but there still are large amounts of CC. * offers an upgrade path to , and the passive helps to trade against AD champions and freeze the minion wave. ;Resistances * is equivalent to a second ; they both revive after death. This gives more survivability and allows for more opportunities to finish off targets. ** 's passive procs before 's passive, so you'll keep the attack speed granted by after your first revive. * An early is primarily to counter laning opponents dealing mostly magic damage. Additionally, the active shield can save from an otherwise untimely death. ** It can later be upgraded into a . The closer to death is, the more attack damage granted by the unique passive of the item. Recommended builds Countering * When takes fatal damage he is healed for the amount currently in his resource bar. Landing a fatal blow on him while the resource bar is low will result in him reviving with a lower amount of health. ** Unlike other reviving champions, revive is rapid and grants him invulnerability during this time which allows him to quickly rejoin a team fight after being dropped to critical health. ** When fighting him, consider his resource bar as part of his own health. (For example, killing him with a full will make him return with a large portion of his hitpoints and if the fight was closely matched, he will most likely kill you.) ** Be aware that his passive (after reviving) don't provide any attackspeed anymore, because he consumes all the blood within it and be sure to look if he got the Blood Thirst/Blood Price buff while reviving. * When casts towards your location, avoid being knocked up by moving away from the center of impact. ** Most players will aim the ability right above you or right behind you. So, moving closer to Aatrox at the time he casts will likely make the skill miss you. * In lane, zoning out of combat will quickly drain out his making him a much more vulnerable target. * While he can be built as a fighter, 's stats and kit are similar to those of a melee ADC, like or . These champions are devastating as long as they are able to attack, but are extremely vulnerable to crowd control, and while 's helps him survive, he is no exception to the rule, as a well landed stun or snare can severely hinder his combat abilities. ** In particular, not only his damage but his in-lane sustain are dependent on him auto-attacking. Champions with strong blinds like or will give him fits during laning. * Inflicting Grievous Wounds can reduce his healing from . ** However, Grievous Wounds does not affect the health he regains from his . * Without ability power (which likely won't be built), 's intial damage is not a factor. The large attack speed and range bonus is a huge threat, but you don't have to worry about getting instantly burst-nuked by the activation. ** The ability lasts long enough for most teamfights, but baiting into using the ability to commit to killing you before a fight breaks out will remove the strong threat the ability presents in a teamfight. ** However, it's recommended you only do this if you are a very hard to kill or catch champion, such as , , , or . * Aatrox is auto attack reliant for not only his damage, but also his survivability. Reducing his attack speed by purchasing or can help reduce both of those components greatly. Champion Spotlight